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Speaker 1: You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine

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Speaker 1: from Newstalks edb SO.

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Speaker 2: As mentioned, we're chatting today with all six New Zealand

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Speaker 2: based Super rugby head coaches. Let's start with the defending champions.

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Speaker 3: We've got to regather.

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Speaker 1: They teck it, they take it backwards, it's going to

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Speaker 1: go over the line.

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Speaker 2: Blues hats have loved to hear these words again the Blues.

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Speaker 3: I'still for rugby champions for the first time in twenty

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Speaker 3: one year.

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Speaker 2: Blues head coach Vern Kinda joins us ver and you're

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Speaker 2: defending champions. So does that mean that you've now got

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Speaker 2: a blueprint for success?

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Speaker 3: That's a really good question. I think we enjoyed the

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Speaker 3: success and I think when we get things right, we

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Speaker 3: can we can put pressure on teams. And I thought

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Speaker 3: there was a mind shift in and around and how

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Speaker 3: we approach competitions. Rather than just being satisfied with whether fourth,

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Speaker 3: fifth or whatever position, we decide that winning was key,

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Speaker 3: so that there was last year. This is another year,

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Speaker 3: another season, and you know they're constantly asking questions yourself

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Speaker 3: is key to moving forward, and I think I think

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Speaker 3: the boys are keen to keep moving forward. So I

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Speaker 3: can't say we're going to win again because everybody's going

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Speaker 3: to do that, But we enjoyed winning last year and

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Speaker 3: we're certainly like to do it again.

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Speaker 2: Is there a temptation to lock and load a fair

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Speaker 2: amount of what worked for you last year this year?

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Speaker 2: I take your point. I wanted to move forward and

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Speaker 2: all of that. But you know they say, if it

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Speaker 2: ain't broke, don't fix it. Is there a temptation not

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Speaker 2: to tinker too much?

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Speaker 3: I know there's there's certain parts of the game we

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Speaker 3: respect that are drivers and our performance and those drivers

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Speaker 3: will stay the same. And I think the more time

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Speaker 3: you spend together, the better you become. So rather than

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Speaker 3: changing for changing, say you can double down on stuff

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Speaker 3: that works. But the super season is there's a start, middle,

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Speaker 3: and finish, so and there's a context to every bit

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Speaker 3: of that around whether the teams are playing in the

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Speaker 3: position sometimes in the competition. So we're going to we'll

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Speaker 3: start and I think, like all teams start a bit

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Speaker 3: rusty and then work our way into it. But the

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Speaker 3: fundamentals of our game and things that we hold dear

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Speaker 3: and we talk about DNA and things like that, things

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Speaker 3: like that, I don't know you want to go that far,

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Speaker 3: but certainly there's parts of our performance that we like

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Speaker 3: to double down on.

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Speaker 2: You talked about the start of the season that you've

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Speaker 2: been handed the tougher start that I can see of

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Speaker 2: any of the teams three New Zealand derbies. We know

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Speaker 2: how physical they are. None of the other New Zealand

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Speaker 2: sides have as tough a start as that. Does that

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Speaker 2: bring an extra layer of challenge for you in terms

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Speaker 2: of managing your squad in the early part of the season.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, you sort of. You'll go from game to game,

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Speaker 3: from training to training, and like all teams at the moment,

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Speaker 3: there's there's been a few manageries even before you get started,

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Speaker 3: so that's part and parcel of a season. So that's

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Speaker 3: exciting because there's young some young players coming through the

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Speaker 3: people probably haven't heard of, and they'll get opportunities because

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Speaker 3: there will be there will be attritional the start of

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Speaker 3: the season. Boys know that and they know that every

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Speaker 3: point in every meter and everything everything we do matters.

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Speaker 3: So there's been a good preseason and we'll rock and

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Speaker 3: roll through the games they come and knowing that we

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Speaker 3: will work our way through any any situation where we

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Speaker 3: pride ourselves on being able to adapt and that'll be

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Speaker 3: one of our key philosophies as well.

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Speaker 2: Sam Dowry had a big season for you in twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty four, made the All Blacks of course off the

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Speaker 2: back of a super rugby form. Unfortunately out for twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty five. How big a blow is that for you?

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Speaker 3: Yeah? I was, Sam was coming on. I mean he

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Speaker 3: got rewarded with Norbalay Tour and I think was world reserved.

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Speaker 3: He runs a line out, he's a big he's a

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Speaker 3: big man, he's two mat as tall I and he

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Speaker 3: dominates the space above others. And he was getting really

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Speaker 3: good around the paddock and on the field and you

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Speaker 3: know around the carry and clean and his work grate

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Speaker 3: was exceptional. So yeah, it's a loss, but it's also

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Speaker 3: an example of what we want. And there's some other

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Speaker 3: young players coming through in his camp, Christy and Tristan

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Speaker 3: Cook that come out of North Harbor that you know,

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Speaker 3: they're exciting young players and there's opportunity. There's an opportunity

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Speaker 3: for Josh Berry to step up. Lochelan McDonnell. He's he

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Speaker 3: had a great season last year and that gives more

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Speaker 3: game time for these players making grind develop as well,

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Speaker 3: So we have to see that as a positive, even

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Speaker 3: though we're disappointed for Sam.

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Speaker 2: Boden Barrett's back. Will he play first five and fullback

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Speaker 2: for you?

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Speaker 3: He can play a number of positions in those teams. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: I would say he's He offers us a support in

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Speaker 3: and around both those roles. And even as we start,

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Speaker 3: as we talk about starting season, Steve pairfetters nursing just

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Speaker 3: just a slight calf as well. So you need everybody

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Speaker 3: and so body can fit into those two positions comfortably.

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Speaker 3: So yeah, it's good to have that flexibility within the team.

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Speaker 2: So with Stephen perhaps doubtful for the first little while,

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Speaker 2: we saw Harry Plummer run the cutter for you brilliantly

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Speaker 2: last year in the teen Jersey. Might we see that

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Speaker 2: again him at ten and body at fifteen for example.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that could happen. Harry did a great job and

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Speaker 3: he led the team to a final victory. So that's

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Speaker 3: and then the whole way through the season steps up

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Speaker 3: when you need him. He's a great man, he's a

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Speaker 3: team man, and he'll play wherever we need him because

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Speaker 3: he's got that flexibility of playing in the midfield as well,

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Speaker 3: and then maybe you know, when we get everybody back

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Speaker 3: that I can slot in and out, and you can't

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Speaker 3: just have one team that plays the whole competition. So

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Speaker 3: being able to slot and now that is important and

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Speaker 3: Harry's love having Harry with us.

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Speaker 2: Indeed, you mentioned Steven obviously know about Sam. I think

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Speaker 2: Bryce Heem has also, doesn't he with a wrist injury.

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Speaker 2: I read anyone else who's who's not quite ready to start.

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Speaker 3: We've got bits of things all around the place, guys

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Speaker 3: coming back and so yeah, yeah, well we'll name a

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Speaker 3: team this week to the Chiefs big game back home.

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Speaker 3: We haven't been on the field for a while, and

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Speaker 3: looking forward to that, looking forward to the crowd coming

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Speaker 3: out and supporting us. And it's it's kick off time.

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Speaker 3: So I think there's been you know, Monday, I expect

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Speaker 3: quite hands to be up in the air to take

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Speaker 3: part in this, and a couple of those mind niggles

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Speaker 3: just might disappear.

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Speaker 2: I bet they will. Seven new faces, seven new Super

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Speaker 2: rugby players. Anyway, quite a bit of interest in Peyton

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Speaker 2: Spencer given his surname who was dad is and also

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Speaker 2: his feats in the sevens game. How's he fitted into

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Speaker 2: the environment.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that really good. He's a great player, he's got

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Speaker 3: a great future and he's like a lot of these players.

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Speaker 3: Then they've got good humility around how they approach the

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Speaker 3: game and they want to learn and become better, and

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Speaker 3: they've slotted them nicely. You know, there's there's another young player,

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Speaker 3: Rica Simpson. I think zav Taylor who was the founder twenties.

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Speaker 3: We've got some good young kids coming through and that's

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Speaker 3: the Blues team of two or three years time perhaps,

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Speaker 3: you know, so's been worth one investment during the preseason

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Speaker 3: having these guys and you can already see the progress

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Speaker 3: they're making.

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Speaker 2: Did you learn some some good stuff last year? And

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Speaker 2: you've been around the game for a while, did you

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Speaker 2: learn some new things last year?

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Speaker 3: We're always learning, Pineyer? Yeah, so, you know, no, there's

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Speaker 3: there's good key learnings just about ourselves and in the competition.

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Speaker 3: Because I hadn't coached in the competition for a while,

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Speaker 3: so it was no interesting coaching back in New Zealand

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Speaker 3: and the dynamics of a you know, of of an

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Speaker 3: international competition in Australian and Pacific Island teams. I really

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Speaker 3: enjoyed it. I loved it. It was nice to be

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Speaker 3: back home and I really enjoyed the Blues boys. They're

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Speaker 3: not the soft, fleshy team that thinks they are. There's

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Speaker 3: some some real hard work goes near, some real pride

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Speaker 3: in the Jersey and the province. So it's it's you

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Speaker 3: know and hopefully you know the things we learned we

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Speaker 3: can we can, like I said at the start, move

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Speaker 3: move things forward again.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I think you were a large part of

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Speaker 2: driving that that steel in the in the Blues last

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Speaker 2: season just before you got to see. Australia will be

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Speaker 2: looking for a new head coach at the back end

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Speaker 2: of the year. You're going to get back into the

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Speaker 2: international game.

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Speaker 3: I'm happy here also, yeah, no, no, no that there'll

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Speaker 3: be somebody else. There'll be somebody else. But Joe's done

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Speaker 3: a good job. He's a good made of mine and

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Speaker 3: I think he's done well there. And Australians have good

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Speaker 3: coaches and you'll see that, I think with the with

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Speaker 3: their team to share the one least team and they've

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Speaker 3: consolidated their team effectives, playing lists and they'll be tough.

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Speaker 2: Thanks for chatting vern all the best in your quest

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Speaker 2: to go back to.

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Speaker 3: Back mate good Man, Thank you just pining now thanks.

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Speaker 2: Ver Vern cotter head coach of the Blues.

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Speaker 1: For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live

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Speaker 1: to news talks ed be weekends from midday, or follow

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